Australian DePuy knee implant settlement may cost $68k per patient

An Australian judge approves DePuy Orthopaedics' knee implant settlement, granting patients compensation beginning at $32,500 apiece, going as high as $68,200 per patient.

An Australian judge approved Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics' lawsuit settlement, in which the company will pay between approximately $32,500 (A$31,000) and $68,200 (A$65,000) to each patient who received a defective knee implant.

J&J and DePuy recalled certain knee implants after receiving complaints of defects in 2009, prior to which more than 5,000 patients were treated with the implants in Australia, Bloomberg reported.